Why Hugh Jackman never wore the classic Wolverine costume

To read more on Logan, stay tuned to EW.com and pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now – and subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

Logan doesn’t just mean the end of Hugh Jackman’s time as Wolverine. The movie, which hits theaters March 3, also closes the book on the long-held hope from fans that Jackman would one day don his character’s classic blue-and-yellow costume.

The closest he came to wearing it was in an alternate ending to The Wolverine, where Rila Fukushima’s Yukio presents Logan with the eared mask and gloves in black and yellow. What might have seemed like an implicit promise to viewers ended up being nothing more than a clever nod at the look.

So that left Logan as the final opportunity for Jackman to appear in the costume, but the movie comes to a close without anyone getting into spandex. Speaking with the actor for the latest EW cover story, he explained some of the behind-the-scenes conversations about the costume and why he ultimately never put it on.

“I never really thought it was a possibility,” he said, speaking over the phone from Berlin. “I had no idea how the hell it would be done.”

While there was definitely talk about whether or not the costume was doable, it was something that director James Mangold didn’t see happening. “It certainly came up in discussion, like, ‘Can we do it? Is there any way?'” Jackman recalls. “Jim [Mangold] always doubted it. In the end, it was a ‘no.'”

But Jackman can empathize with the Wolverine fans who wanted to see the suit. It just never made sense with the movies from his point of view. “I get what they’re saying and if you could find a really cool way to do it,” he said. “We flirted with it at one point with The Wolverine, the last one, but we just couldn’t find a way to do it and be in keeping with the tone of the film. Sorry, guys.”